A Disastrous Season of Discontent

Smell the smoke? Hear the pop-pop-pop of gunshots? Is that the wailing, grieving parents surveying a bloody scene? Is that the sound of breaking glass? Do you hear sirens of first responders and law enforcement? That must be the chants of protestors you hear along with the smell of tear gas. The summer sounds of tree frogs, crickets, and night creatures have been drowned out by the elements of an incredible crime wave in many cities in America and Canada. Or is it Paris or Barcelona or some other urban area in the world where violent civil unrest has become commonplace?

Some people, weary of the pandemic, are easily enraged by offenses, real or imagined, and come together to protest and vent their frustrations. Stir in a big dose of uncertain, changing guidelines and public health protocols from the highest levels of the government and a torrent of misinformation on social media about the COVID-19 pandemic, and we find that there's more than enough fuel for the heated uproar to last.

In this atmosphere of political and ideological division, violence and mayhem often break out, egged on by anarchist organizers eager to co-opt a protest to accomplish their goal of bringing down the civil power structure. It happens with alarming regularity, in a very similar pattern, over and over, night after night, in city after city.

After drastically reducing police presence in many cities, neighborhoods find themselves on the run as rival gangs shoot up family gatherings, businesses, and other places where people meet. Random shootings of strangers on the street or public transit are commonplace. This is not a post-apocalyptic scene out of a superhero comic book or a dystopic scene from a movie. This is reality.

All the while, the 24-hour news cycle reports the bloody details as politicians point fingers and make excuses, appearing feckless and impotent. Meanwhile, the people they are supposed to represent and protect are fearful and suffering. Every day, especially on the weekends, the cycle repeats, ad nauseum. "Why?" the cry is heard. And there are answers:

• Generations of the break-up of the two-parent family structure.
• The decline of women as homemakers, rearing children at home.
• The poor quality of public-school education at all levels (including the lack of a balanced view of history, neglecting marketable skills in reading, math, and sciences, and abandoning instruction in basic morality).
• Leftist ideology and Marxist philosophy, including have permeated classrooms.
• Gender confusion, sexual fluidity, and "intersectionality," which alleges victimization of various groups urging revolutionary change in society.

The catastrophic outcome is confusion and chaos in all levels of education, government, and even the military. Where will it end?

Millions of citizens of the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and many other nations are now more worries than at any time in their lives, thinking "What is to become of my beloved country?" Keep in mind that there are causes to every effect; the present season of discontent did not come upon us on a whim or without provocation. In their search for answers, some suggest religions are a potential cause and thus its removal is suggested as a potential solution. We examine this question in our Viewpoint commentary: "Would the World be Better Off Without Religion?"

Adapted from "A Disastrous Season of Discontent" by J. Davy Crockett III.